Battle of Life by Xena






Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. I did make up a few, but the rest like Xena, Gabby, Eve, Joxer, Meg…etc…. They all belong to Renaissance and USA Studios. Subtext: No! Violence: Yep. Sex: Yeah. Xena and Ares didn't have any love scenes in Fate, so in this sequel, I decided to give them a little sex storyline. Rating: PG-13





Xena looked at her blonde friend for a second. "Eve, take Zander outside." Xena said. "Okay mother." Eve said. She hugged Gabrielle. "Congratulations." Eve left and Gabrielle and Xena stood facing each other. "You're pregnant?" Xena asked. "Yes. I went to a healer." Gabrielle said. Xena started to open her mouth. "Hey, I know you're a gifted healer, but I wanted this to be a secret until I knew for sure." "How?" Xena asked. "Well, I'm guessing it was from that night with Joxer 10 years ago. Right before we were frozen in an ice cave. Maybe the baby stayed inside me, and was frozen with me and now it's alive because I am. I should be a season along. I've got two seasons to go until I have a baby Xena." Gabrielle said. Xena nodded. She hugged her best friend. "Congratulations." She said. "Thank you." Gabrielle said. Ares appeared before the two women. "Hey." He said. He looked around. "Where's Eve and Zander?" "They're outside." Xena said. "What just happened?" Ares asked. "I'm pregnant." Gabrielle said. Ares looked at Gabrielle quickly. "Congratulations." He said. "Thank you." Gabrielle said. They walked outside, and traveled once again with Eve and Zander. On Olympus, Athena fumed. She was a step ahead of the other gods and goddesses. She knew that Eve was the girl traveling with Xena and Gabrielle. "Artemis!" Athena bellowed. Artemis ran into Athena's chamber. "What is it Athena?" the goddess asked. "Eve is the girl with Xena and Gabrielle. "Are you sure sis?" Artemis asked. "I'm positive." Athena said. "I want her dead!" Artemis nodded. "You want me to send out a group of your warriors?" Artemis asked. "Yes. Send out some of yours too." Athena said. "Don't hurt the baby. He is Ares' son, and no matter what, he's family." "I understand." Artemis said. She left the room quickly. Aphrodite, who knew Eve was with Xena and Gabrielle, had heard the whole conversation. She disappeared quickly to her chamber of Olympus. Aphrodite was baby-sitting for baby Bliss, and he was sleeping. "Okay kid." Aphrodite whispered. "Stay asleep." She disappeared quickly and reappeared in front of Ares, Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve. "Aphrodite." Gabrielle said. "You are in a lot of danger guys." Aphrodite said worriedly. "What's going on?" Xena asked suspiciously. "Athena and Artemis are sending some of each of their warriors. They've figured out that Eve is with you." Aphrodite explained. "You have to get to safety. She wants to kill Eve." Aphrodite said. Eve looked up at Xena. Xena had a frightened expression on her face. "Mother. Don't worry." Eve said. We can handle them." "No. We're going to need more than us to take on Athena's troops and Artemis' troops. Not to mention that Athena will probably be there with Artemis." Xena said. "I'm in." Ares said. "Let's get ready for war, baby!" Eve rolled her eyes at Ares. "Father…" she whispered. "I'm in too." Aphrodite said. She giggled and snapped. She was instantly in a delicate armor. The armor had little hearts on it and her leather was pink. "So, how do I look? Do I look like a warrior?" "Aphrodite, most warriors don't wear pick leather and hearts on their armor." Ares said. "Whatever." The goddess of love said as she rolled her eyes. "Let's get ready." They all prepared for a battle. Xena refused to let Eve help. She told her to take Zander to Ares' temple. She would be protected there. She told her to stay there for as long as she could. Ares told Eve that there was some fruit at his temple that she could eat and also make some into baby food for Zander. He quickly zapped Eve and Zander to his nearby temple. Xena looked at Ares. She kissed him. "Thank you." She said. Ares nodded and kissed Xena once more. Night had fallen now and everyone sat around the campfire. They knew the troops wouldn't attack until early morning. Ares was sitting with his arm around Xena. Xena was sitting, thinking about her children. Gabrielle sat staring into the fire and thinking about Joxer, and about the unborn child. Aphrodite was busy brushing dirt off of her but. Everytime she sat down on a log near the campfire, she'd get soot on her butt and on her armor and leather. "I'm sure the children are fine." Ares whispered in Xena's ear. "I know. I am just worried about the fight tomorrow. I'm not usually worried, but when my child's life is on the line, I get worried." "I know. I'm not about to let anything happen to you, to Gabrielle, to my sister, or to our children, Xena." Ares said. He kissed Xena softly. Ares stood and held his hand out. Xena took it, and Ares zapped himself and Xena to a quiet bedroom. Xena realized it was the same room he took them to when she was being blamed for the death of those villagers, and the angry friends and families were out for blood. "Ares." Xena whispered. "I remember." Ares stood behind Xena and removed her armor with a gesture of his hand. Soon enough the warrior princess was dressed in the beautiful dress that she'd worn once before while Ares was trying to seduce her to become his warrior queen. "I can't be your warrior queen." She whispered now. "I know." Ares said. He kissed Xena's lips softly and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, bringing her close to him. "Just dance with me." Xena nodded and kissed her love. The lovers started to dance slowly, holding each other close. Ares kissed Xena's neck as she bit her lip softly. She ran her fingers through Ares' short hair. Ares kissed her shoulder and gently started unbuttoning the dress from the front. She kissed her chest and picked her up in his arms. Not to lay her in an ice coffin like he had done so years ago, but to carry her to the bed.


Aphrodite had returned to Olympus long enough to make sure Bliss was okay and to give him to Cupid. She returned to the campsite, still finding Gabrielle staring into the fire. "Hey Gabrielle." Aphrodite said as she sat down next to Gabrielle. Gabrielle looked over at Aphrodite. "I can't believe this." Gabrielle finally spoke. "What is it?" Aphrodite asked. "I noticed something off today when I joined up with you guys." "I'm pregnant." Gabrielle said as she sighed. "Shouldn't that be a happy thing?" Aphrodite asked. "Yes. It is. I'm pregnant with Joxer's child, and I am happy about that, but I'm worried about tomorrow. This battle. Xena's worried, and that can't be good. She's worried for her children and I know she's worried about me because I'm pregnant." Gabrielle said. "Congratulations anyway." Aphrodite said. She hugged her friend. "Thanks Aphrodite." Gabrielle said as she smiled softly. "Hey, I think I've got a gift for you." Aphrodite said. "Be back in a sec." Aphrodite disappeared and practically reappeared a second later. She handed Gabrielle a package wrapped in white. Gabrielle looked at Aphrodite strangely. She unwrapped the package to find a beautiful white and brown coat, much like the one she used to wear when Xena was pregnant, and when it was very cold out. Underneath the coat was a beautifully shirt that was much like the one that she had worn during most of her travels with Xena. It was like the green one, except it was white and it would cover the whole stomach. And it came with a skirt that was a gray color. "Thank you Aphrodite." Gabrielle said. "It's beautiful." Aphrodite grinned and snapped her fingers. Gabrielle found herself wearing the white shirt, the gray skirt, and the brown and white coat. "Wow! It's so warm." Gabrielle said. "Thought you'd like it. And, it has more room to grow in." Aphrodite said smiling.


Xena woke in Ares' arms. They lay naked together under the sheets. Ares stared down at Xena and kissed the top of her head. "How much time till the battle?" Xena asked. "We've got awhile. We should get going." Ares said. Xena nodded and got out of bed. She walked in her nakedness across the room. Ares watched her. "You're beautiful." Xena smiled and pulled on her leather and armor. She made sure her sword was sharpened and she sheathed it and put her chakram on her beltloop. Joxer walked along, trying to find Xena and Gabrielle. He had left Meg's because he'd finished everything up finally, and trained some new chefs. He stayed for the birth of Meg's daughter Xeria. Now, Joxer wanted to find Xena and Gabrielle and join back up with them. Just like old times. The only change that had happened to him was that he got a little gray hair. Just a few tiny specks of gray. He knew that he looked practically the same as 10 years ago. Xena and Gabrielle definitely did.


It was dawn now, and Xena was crouched in a tree, scouting. She could see Athena's troops led by Athena coming from the North, and Artemis' troops, led by Artemis, coming from the South. Ares appeared in the tree next to Xena. "Where's Aphrodite?" Xena asked. "She's in charge of the rigged rockslide. She pulls that rope and all the boulders come down, blocking Athena's regiment. Where is Gabrielle?" "Gabrielle's waiting behind a bush. All she has to do is pull a cord and some land mines will go off. Hopefully it'll knock off 10 or 20 of Artemis' regiment." Xena said. Ares looked at Xena, giving her a glance that told her that he would stick by her even if it meant the death of his sisters. Aphrodite had promised that she'd stick with Xena and Gabrielle. "They're getting close." Aphrodite whispered over to Gabrielle. "I know." Gabrielle said. "We need to work fast. Remember." "I know." Aphrodite said. "Good luck." Gabrielle said quickly hugging Aphrodite. "You too." Aphrodite said. Aphrodite zapped herself back over to her post. In a half-hour, Athena's regiment was coming over the hill and Artemis' group was coming over the hill on the other side of the land. Athena stayed behind as her warrior women dressed in silver entered the forest. Aphrodite took this as a cue. She pulled the rope and huge boulders came crashing down, crushing seven or eight of Athena's warriors. The boulders piled up as Athena watched in horror. She knew there was no other way into the forest from this side. Huge cliff walls surrounded the path and it would be an hour or two before they could get around to another entrance. Athena couldn't use her powers to blow up the boulder wall because of the fact that more of her warriors could be killed. She simply gave them orders. "Break down this wall! Now!" Athena ordered. The warrior women hurriedly started moving great boulders. Artemis watched her girls dressed in gold armor walk into their entrance of the forest. Gabrielle pulled the cord, setting of about 10 landmines. To her surprise, all of the regiment was wiped out except for Artemis and five other warrior women. "After her!" Artemis demanded. Gabrielle ran through a path with five warrior women following behind her. She knew she's set some traps. She knew Xena and Ares were waiting. Ares was waiting for Athena. Xena was ready to kick ass. A great war cry came from high above in the trees, and the five women stopped in their tracks as the beautiful warrior princess landed before them with her sword drawn and her chakram in hand. "Xena!" Artemis yelled from a distance. Xena didn't look at her. She didn't want to give Artemis the satisfaction. Xena stared into the eyes of the five women. They didn't look scared, but she knew they were because everytime she'd move her sword, they'd prepare for a fight. "ALALALALALALALALALA!" Xena hollered as she did a flip into the air and started the battle off. She fought the first woman easily. The woman took a right hand jab with her sword toward Xena's heart, but Xena tripped her and crippled her leg with the sword. The second woman came forward to Xena and lunged for her. Xena plunged her sword into the woman's stomach, watching her fall to the ground in a pool of blood. Xena battled the last three women at once. She elbowed one in the mouth, knocking her back. She kicked the other in the stomach, and plunged her sword into the other's chest. The bloody-mouthed woman ran for Xena and Xena threw her chakram, knocking the woman into a tree with the chakram lodged in her stomach. The final woman attacked Xena from behind, knocking her head into a tree. Xena's world was black for a split second as she felt a blade against the flesh of her arm. She felt warm blood oozing out of the wound, and finally, her world was bright again. As the woman came forward again, Xena kicked her feet out from under her, making the woman fall on her back. She plunged the sword directly into the woman's abdomen. Gabrielle had long since left Xena to her duty as she hurried to help Aphrodite. She reached her and saw Aphrodite's look of boredom. "Where's Athena? Are they blocked out?" Gabrielle asked. "Yes. They're trying to get through." Aphrodite said. "We have quite a lot of time." "Good. We can attack them from behind. You in?" Gabrielle asked. "Yeah. Let's go." Aphrodite said. She'd never battled before, but she could use some of her powers to distract some of the woman. She snapped her fingers and two of Athena's women totally lost all caring of battle. They threw down their swords and with that, five others did too. They left, and Athena didn't even try to get them back. She was too busy to argue with them. The left warriors looked at Athena in confusion. "Keep working!" Athena yelled. They quickly got back to work.


Artemis dismounted from her horse. She pulled her sword. "Xena, you know you can't survive this time." Artemis said. Aphrodite and Gabrielle came up behind Xena. "As a matter of fact, I can." Xena said. She started a sword fight with Artemis as Gabrielle rounded them, taking Artemis on from behind. She kicked her to take some of the heat off of Xena. She hit the goddess over the head with her sais, as Xena hit her in the back with a sword. "Come on Xena." Artemis said. "You know a sword can't kill me." She hit Xena and Gabrielle, sending them both flying in different directions. She was about to hit them with bolts of fire when Aphrodite sprang on her sister, plunging a dagger into her heart. "Aphro . . . dite…" Artemis sputtered out. Aphrodite was crying now. She had killed her sister. She watched her sister go limp in her arms. Xena and Gabrielle looked on in amazement. They finally realized they needed to deal with Athena and the rest of her troops. Ares appeared beside Aphrodite. He put a hand on her shoulder and hugged her. He then left with Xena and Gabrielle to defeat Athena.


Joxer wandered along the road and heard the sounds of boulders being thrown to the ground. He hid behind a tree with his sword drawn. He watched as Athena sat on her horse and three women worked on getting boulders out of the way. He heard the war cry of Xena. He knew he had found them in the middle of a war. He watched as Ares appeared before Athena. Athena dismounted her horse. "Ares." She said. "Good to see you." "Artemis is dead, Athena." Ares said. "What?!" exclaimed Athena. "Aphrodite killed her." Ares said. "Now, if you don't want to die, you'll give up now. "What? Are you going to kill me?" Athena asked. "If I have to." Ares replied coldly. He could see the fear in his sister's eyes. "You wouldn't dare! We're family!" Athena roared. Just then Xena and Gabrielle jumped from the top of one of the boulders. They landed behind the three remaining warrior women. The three women were soon laying in the same sea of warrior women that was trailed behind them on the dirt road. "It's just us now Athena." Xena said. "Your sisters aren't here. They weren't up to being here. Seeing a one is dead and the another is grieving." "You don't scare me warrior princess." Athena said. She lunged for Gabrielle. Xena lunged for Athena when Gabrielle was knocked to the ground. Xena pulled Athena away and kicked her to the ground. The proud goddess stood and prepared to kill the warrior princess. She threw Xena against a boulder, and Xena was unconscious for a second. When she came to, Athena was standing over her, ready to plunge her sword into Xena's heart. Ares lunged for his sister and wrestled her to the ground. Athena kicked her brother away from her and drew her sword. "I can and I will kill you if I have to Ares." Athena panted. "I know that." Ares said as he struck the first blow, Athena blocking it with her own sword. Xena struggled to get up off the ground, and she helped Gabrielle up off of the ground. Joxer watched all of this and he wanted to help. Athena knocked Ares back, and she had her back to Joxer. Gabrielle and Xena watched as Joxer ran behind Athena. He pushed her and she fell forward. As she fell, she tried to hit Ares with her sword, but she fell beside him and he plunged his sword into his sister's chest. "You . . ." Athena choked out as she looked at Ares. "You'll never . . . forgive yourself. You . . . coward." Athena choked and sputtered and finally breathed her last breath.


It was nightfall now, and Aphrodite and Ares had gone to Olympus to tell the others, and they had gone to tell Hades. The Olympians had decided to wait for their time. Hades even decided. He knew he'd be killed if he even tried to get near Eve. Gabrielle and Joxer slept side-by-side, Xena held Zander in her arms and her daughter slept beside her. Everyone decided to talk in the morning. After Athena's death, nobody had said a word to each other except for Ares and Aphrodite. They had talked about their siblings' deaths and went on to tell their Olympian family. Xena drifted off to sleep with her son and daughter by her sides and her friends near. She smiled, knowing that it wasn't just her that had one. It was her family and friends. It was the whole world.



The End . . . or is it?